Nude Pictures; Print At Home; Kodak EASYSHARE Printer Dock Plus Thermal Transfer

The Assignment

My husband knew I wanted a good camera and he knew I was interested in the Kodak EASYSHARE Printer Dock Plus It looked so easy on the ads and I wanted something that would give me clear and vivid pictures. He decided to tackle the assignment and I got the new Kodak EASYSHARE Printer Dock Plus for Christmas.

Out of the box

The printer dock
AC power cord
AC power adaptor

The universal camera insert is pre installed but will come out to use on another printer dock. I know because my husband bought two docks, the other just charges, but the insert didn’t fit my camera. When we go on a trip we just take the little dock with us along with the universal insert, then we can charge the camera no matter where we are.

NI-MH rechargeable battery pack
Paper tray
Color cartridge
Photo paper PH-10 pack
A user guide and CD came with the Kodak EASYSHARE Printer Dock Plus Thermal Transfer

Where to put the dock is important you need to have clearance at the back of the dock for the paper to pass out the back and then back. I set mine on my scanner on the computer desk. The scanner is flat and the dock fits perfectly.

The ink cartridge is easy to install, the cartridge door is on the side, and you slip it in and rotate the spool clockwise. Taking it out you push up the green lever and pull the cartridge out.

The door on the front of the dock pulls down; you slide in the paper tray in until it clicks. Of course, this is after you have loaded the paper into the tray.

Pros

The dock does not have to be attached to the computer to work. It is free standing. When you do connect it to the computer, it can print pictures you have on your hard drive from other sources.

If you are trying to print pictures from the computer that was taken with a smaller megabit camera; the machine lets me know if the pictures will come out well. It tell’s me I can make a 4x6 or I need to choose wallet size or two to a sheet for them to look good.

Four picture lights are on the top of the dock, you have a choice between 4x6 with or without a border, and two to a sheet, four wallet sizes, or nine thumbnails. The paper is 4x6 and is Kodak paper. There is no waste of paper as the options allow the above.

The prices of the 40 Pack paper is 29.99 and the 80 pack paper is 49.99, I have not found the cartridges on sale alone, they always come with the paper ready for each time you have to change the paper. The printer only takes the 4x6 paper.

Paper light

Battery charging lights there are three and they are green, when fully charged all three light.

Color cartridge light

Slide show light with a button to push if you desire to see a slide show.

I can auto enhance the picture before I hit print and there is a light for that. The auto enhance feature adjusts the contrast and light.

There is an Audio and Video outlet for viewing the pictures on your television.

You can tag the pictures that you want to print from your camera.

Size and Weight from the Kodak site.

Dimensions: 13.1" x 7.4" x 3.3"
Weight: 39 ounces
One-year limited warranty

Cons

There are only two that I have found, one is no turn off switch, I unplug it when not in use and put it back in the original box to keep it from getting dusty.

The second problem is the annoying one for me. I am very computer savvy, have never had a problem connecting anything to my computer and getting it to work. Yet, I had problems getting the printer to work correctly with my computer.

My Experience

At first, we set the camera on the dock and then selected the size pictures I wanted to print. I made sure that the paper was not stuck together and put it into the paper holder then pushed the size we wanted and pushed print.

The paper goes in and out four times before staying on top of the tray and it is finished. Take the picture off the top and you are ready to print again.

Now I will tell you about the computer part of the operation. I had already loaded the software for the dock onto the computer. The USB cable that came with the camera also fits the dock. I connected the USB cable to the Kodak EASYSHARE Printer Dock Plus Thermal Transfer and then to my computer, but when I went to print pictures from my computer all was not well. An error message kept coming up and it just wouldn’t print. Yes, I had selected the Kodak in the printer controls.

What happened? When I pushed the print button, my HP G85 three in one printer, printed the pictures. I kept working with the computer and finally found a way to work around the problem. I found that if I went to properties on the G85 and then to ports I just unchecked the G85 from its port and checked the virtual Kodak printer. This enabled me to print the pictures from the dock.

I was aggravated but I have learned to quickly work around the problem when I am ready to use the Kodak EASYSHARE Printer Dock Plus Thermal Transfer. I do not know if this is the problem of the G85, my computer or the Kodak dock. I will read the Kodak manual again the next time I use it and see if I am doing something wrong. It is probably me, sighing as I write this.

I wanted a few pictures of my late father when he was a young man in the Navy. Unfortunately, these were not good enough for the 4x6 print and the camera dock let me know that if I wanted quality I would have to have four wallet sizes made. I did this and I was surprised at the clarity of the wallet size pictures.

When I printed directly from the camera, the pictures looked like I had just picked them up from a photo shop. I couldn’t believe the beautiful color and clarity of the pictures.

My husband had bought another sheaf of 40-picture paper and it came with the printer cartridge. I don’t know how much he paid for that extra paper but I will soon find out as I am almost out of paper.

The quality and vivid colors of the picture and the convenience of having the printer right at home makes this purchase well worth the price.

I would highly recommend the Kodak EASYSHARE Printer Dock Plus Thermal Transfer.

Thank you for reading my review.

Diane Sartain
© 2005